


Book Recommendations

by FifteenthJessica



Series: Sapphic September 2019 [9]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 09:24:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20636864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FifteenthJessica/pseuds/FifteenthJessica
Summary: During some down time after the team rounds of the Vytal Festival, Blake discovers a fellow bookworm.





	Book Recommendations

Blake headed to the library. With Weiss and Yang going to the doubles round and the White Fang inactive in Vale, Blake could get back to her reading list in between matches. She browsed the library, first just appreciating the smell of books, old and new, that mingled together. She’d once told Weiss about how good that smell was, only to get a weird look. Blake sighed. There would be some things about humans she just wouldn’t get.

Blake hadn’t read a classic in a while. The high stress days of last semester meant she was mostly reaching for manga. Blake headed to that area of the shelves.

“Looking for something to read?”

Blake turned around. A girl in a black and gray dress stood behind her holding a stack of books. Her hair was pulled away from her face and fell in ringlets behind her head. Blake recognized her as one of the girls that Sun and his team fought in the first round.

“I heard Jane Auburn is good,” said Blake.

“Oh, she’s my favorite. I especially love her novel _Emarald._”

The other girl handed a book from her stack to Blake, who studied it. She found a summary on the inside cover. A mystery surrounding a young woman who tries to play matchmaker in her small town. It sounded promising from a beloved author.

“You don’t mind me reading this?” asked Blake.

“This would be my fourth time, and I might not get to it. Some of my friends are pretty upset about our match, so we’ll probably have team training to get ready for the next tournament and get them to blow off some steam.”

“A part of me can’t believe they won. That girl with the spear was picking them off, and Neptune and Sun were a strategic disaster.”

“Dew might be happy to hear that. I’m sorry, I forgot to ask your name. I’m Gwen Darcy. I’m in my second year at Shade.”

“Blake. Beacon first year.”

“Oh, I heard your school got three first year pairs into doubles. Do you think any of them could make singles? Well, Nikos probably will, she’s famous even in Vacuo.”

“Professor Goodwitch makes her fight full teams in sparring. I think my teammates have a shot. The two guys, doubtful.”

“I heard people say they won by being less of a disaster.”

“That wouldn’t surprise me.” The two girls laughed.

“Look for me at the training grounds when you finish,” said Gwen. “Shade Academy doesn’t have a lot of classic literature aficionados. Or many literature aficionados in general.”

Blake nodded.

\---

_Emarald_ proved to be quite the page turner. The protagonist was interesting, the vices of the wealthy was a theme that Blake always appreciated, and, although she’d never admit it (unless it would get her out of admitting to owning hentai), Blake loved a good romance. In fact, she spent a lot of time wondering if she’d be able to find a new romance after Adam. Sun and Yang seemed like good options, but neither of them cared for reading. Her romantic musings sometimes drew her to a graceful girl with well kept black ringlets.

Blake wandered to the training grounds reserved for Shade Academy students. It was fairly empty. A lot of the Shade students had decided to enjoy the festival since no one from the school made it to the singles round. Blake spotted Team NDGO and decided to sit and wait.

It was an intense practice session. Gwen was forced to fight all three of her teammates at once. Gwen threw a barrage of knives at her crossbow-wielding leader before dancing between her teammates’ spear and kris. She kicked her red-headed teammate in the gut before turning to face the blonde. That was tough. Gwen could barely stop the daggers with her throwing knives, and the blonde was giving her no quarter, until abruptly stepping back.

“Above,” called the violet-haired girl as she flipped and fired a crossbow bolt that narrowly missed Gwen’s nose. She checked her scroll. “That’s an improved time, Gwen. Everyone take five.”

The four girls grabbed their water bottles. The purple-haired girl tapped Gwen’s shoulder and pointed to Blake. She must have told her team about Blake. It was a pleasant thought that their brief book discussion had been memorable enough for Gwen. Blake waved awkwardly.

“I couldn’t put it down,” said Blake.

“That’s great,” said Gwen. “A lot of people are put off by Emarald, unfortunately.”

“She was a bit annoying at first, but so was one of my teammates when we first met, and they’re a lot alike.”

“I have to admit, I find a bit of myself in Emarald.”

Blake raised an eyebrow.

“My family makes a lot of money off of the Dust mines in Vacuo. We’re a good deal more well off than most of Vacuo. I was a bit snobbish at first, and a lot of people want to take me down a peg. Auburn’s writing was there for me before I had friends.” Gwen looked down.

“I related to Emarald a bit too. I’ve made a lot of mistakes, loved the wrong men, thought I knew what was best when I really didn’t. I wish I read this earlier.”

“Have you thought about your love life much recently?” Gwen’s cheeks took on a rosy tint.

Blake shrugged. Gwen leaned closer, and Blake’s heart began to beat faster. Blake closed her eyes, then closed the gap between her lips.

“Thank you,” said Gwen.

“My pleasure.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, I did this ship because the ship name on the RWBY shipping chart spreadsheet I was looking at was so cute: Pride and Prejudice and Kitties. This also influenced the choice of knock off Jane Austin, who I really should read more. I haven't actually read Emma. I just chose it because it was the easiest title to RWBY-fy.


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